European Standards

A comprehensive guide to standards to help you make an informed choice of the right level of protection for you.

Operating Instructions

The Community Regulation (EU) 2016/425 regulates the CE marking of all personal protective equipment (PPE). The Declaration of Conformity is the document produced by the manufacturer in which he declares that the product complies with the health and safety requirements of the Regulation. The CE marking is mandatory on all items of clothing considered PPE and marketed in countries belonging to the European Economic Area (EEA) and EFTA countries.

Community Regulation (EU) 2016/425 identifies and classifies the three risk categories of PPE:

I Category	All PPE that protects against minimal risks (Declaration of conformity: self-certification issued directly by the manufacturer)
II Category	All PPE that protects against intermediate risks (Certificate of certification issued by a Notified Body)
III Category	All PPE that protects against high risks that may cause very serious or irreversible consequences (Certificate of certification issued by a Notified Body and annual production control)

The general requirements for PPE are regulated by the standard UNI EN ISO 13688, this standard specifies the following general performance requirements:

1	Innoquity	4	Aging
2	Comfort-Design	5	CE Marking
3	Size Designation	6	Information provided by the manufacturer (information note)

STANDARDS WITH SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS

UNI EN ISO 20471 - HIGH VISIBILITY CLOTHING

The standard specifies requirements for high-visibility garments that visually signal the presence of the wearer under both daytime and nighttime artificial lighting conditions. Visibility is ensured by the combination of a fluorescent base fabric during daytime and a reflective fabric during darkness, which allows the garments to be classified into 3 protection classes.


	CLASS 3	CLASS 2	CLASS 1
BACKGROUND MATERIAL (fluorescent)	0,80	0,50	0,14
RETRO-REFLECTIVE MATERIAL	0,20	0,13	0,10

Class 3: represents the highest level of protection and is indicated for those working at airports or intermodal ports, maintenance of motorways or roads with several lanes in each direction of travel. It must have a minimum of 0.80 sq.m. of fluorescent backing material and 0.20 sq.m. of retro-reflective band, which corresponds to 5 metres of a 4 cm high band.

Class 2: represents the intermediate level of protection and is suitable for those working in the maintenance of municipal and state roads, warehousemen, drivers. It must have a minimum of 0.50 sq. m. of fluorescent background material and 0.13 sq. m. of retro-reflective tape, which corresponds to 3.25 metres of a 4 cm high band.

Class 1: represents the minimum level of protection and is indicated for those who maintain private roads, or in situations of limited risk. It must have a minimum of 0.14 sq. m. of fluorescent background material and 0.10 sq. m. of retro-reflective band, which corresponds to 2.50 metres of a 4 cm high band.

UNI EN 17353 - CLOTHING WITH INCREASED VISIBILITY FOR MEDIUM RISK SITUATIONS

This standard specifies requirements for clothing worn in medium-risk situations that require increased visibility but where the risk assessment does not make the use of PPE certified to EN ISO 20471 mandatory. This standard specifies 3 product types:

	TYPE A: Garments providing protection in daylight conditions
	TYPE AB: Garments providing protection in daylight, night-time and twilight conditions
	TYPE B: Garments providing protection in night-time lighting conditions

UNI EN 343 - RAIN PROTECTIVE CLOTHING

The standard specifies the requirements applied to the materials and seams of garments for protection against atmospheric factors such as rain, snow, fog and moisture from the ground. The garments are designed and constructed using waterproof and breathable materials, paying particular attention to the sealing of all seams to ensure a high level of comfort.

	Water penetration resistance (WP)		Water vapour resistance (Ret)
CLASS 1	Wp ≥ 8,000 Pa	CLASS 1	Ret > 40
CLASS 2	Wp ≥ 8,000 Pa	CLASS 2	25 < Ret ≤ 40
CLASS 3	Wp ≥ 13,000 Pa	CLASS 3	15 < Ret ≤ 25
CLASS 4	Wp ≥ 20,000 Pa	CLASS 4	Ret ≤ 15

UNI EN 14058 - PROTECTIVE CLOTHING FOR COLD ENVIRONMENTS

The standard specifies requirements and test methods for the performance of individual items of clothing for protection against cooling of the body in cold environments down to temperatures of - 5 °C. Compared to EN 14058, EN 14058 is less restrictive.

Y	Thermal resistance class
Y	Air permeability class
Y	Thermal insulation value.
WP	Water penetration resistance class.
*	Y and/or WP will become an X if the garment is not tested

Thermal resistance Ret	CLASS 1	Rct m2 - K/W
	CLASS 2	0,06 ≤ Rct < 0,12
	CLASS 3	0,12 ≤ Rct < 0,18
AP air permeability	CLASS 1	0,18 ≤ Rct < 0,25
	CLASS 2	0,25 ≤ Rct
	CLASS 3	0,25 ≤ Rct
Thermal insulation (optional) * This is carried out if the requirements of thermal resistance class 4 are met Ret
Water penetration resistance WP (optional)

WARNINGS

✓	The user must identify, on the basis of the assessment of possible risks, the need to combine the head with other protective equipment for the remaining parts of the body.	✓	The performance of the garment is guaranteed when, chosen in the appropriate size, it is correctly worn and fastened.
✓	If the garment is not intact or visually defective, discontinue use of the garment and replace it with a suitable garment.	✓	The Information Notice must be retained throughout the life of the PPE in use.
✓	Modifications to the PPE are not permitted.

Limits of use - the garment does not protect against:

Any other risk for which the garment has not been certified.

Marking:

The label (measuring 5.5 x 10.8 cm) with the CE marking will be affixed to the inside of the garment. The lettering, ideograms and pictograms are red on a black background and resistant to the indicated care cycles. The size of the characters is greater than 2 mm and the size of the CE marking is greater than 5 mm. The specific size of the garment will be affixed on a separate label.

The following are indicated:

manufacturing mark;
pictogram and size tables, indicating the standard to which the garment conforms;
CE marking and PPE category;
address of the manufacturing company.

REACH

In order to safeguard consumer health, the European Parliament issued the 'Reach' Regulation (an acronym for 'Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of CHemicals'), which has the following objectives
- improve knowledge of the hazards and risks posed by chemicals in order to ensure a high level of protection of human health and the environment;
- to promote the development of alternative methods to those requiring the use of vertebrate animals for the hazard assessment of substances;
- maintain and strengthen the competitiveness and innovative capacities of the EU chemical industry.

U-POWER guarantees that the garments in its collection comply with the Reach Regulation; they do not contain banned or restricted substances, and to ensure this, strict controls are carried out on all materials used in production.

EN ISO 13688:2013

Protective clothing - General requirements

This standard focuses on the general requirements for all protective clothing requiring CE marking in Europe and must be considered together with the specific standard for the article in question.

The standard 'specifies the general performance requirements for ergonomics, safety, size designation, ageing, compatibility and marking of protective clothing and the information to be provided by the manufacturer with the protective clothing'.

Ergonomics

Incorporating correct design, sufficient comfort for the wearer (taking into account the safety properties of the garment), dimensional change from repeated cleaning and the methods used such as dry cleaning, washing etc.

Harmlessness

Here, the standard serves to ensure that the clothing does not adversely affect the health of the wearer.

Size designation

An important requirement for the garment is undoubtedly to be marked with the correct size according to the standard body size, so that everyone can be guaranteed the possibility of wearing it.

Ageing

Describes the behaviour and change in properties of one or more components of the garment over time to the detriment of the garment, ensuring that the fabric is durable and preserved.

Compatibility and marking

Ensure that garment markings are in the correct language for the intended market, that they are attached to the garment and visible, and that they are resistant to appropriate cleaning to avoid the risk of fabric deterioration or ruining the garment.

Supporting Information

All supporting information will be required in the technical file for each item to be marked. A complete list of requirements can be obtained from a notified body such as the SATRA Technology Centre.

For more information: info@u-power.it